Ventura visits "ground zero;"opens new rift with media
By Tom Scheck
Minnesota Public Radio
October 3, 2001
During Gov. Jesse Ventura'svisit to New York, Ventura met with a bond rating agency and toured the area of the World Trade Center disaster site, where he handed out memorial cards written by Minnesotans to relief workers. But on Wednesday, a spat with Minnesota reporters over access to the governor, led to Ventura vowing never to talk to the Minnesota media again.

During an interview on ABC's Good Morning America,
Ventura delivered a message to the nation that many politicians have been trying to convey over the past few weeks, which was to resume their daily
routines.

"You've got to start traveling again," he said. "You've got to start living
your lives and going to New York and going around. One-tenth of our economy is based on the tourism and travel industry and if we cease to do that, it's going horrible economic result for our country."

Ventura was featured prominently on Good Morning America. In addition to his interview, an ABC-TV crew taped the Venturas and New York Gov. George
Pataki on their visit to the World Trade Center site on Tuesday.

The morning show hosts said
repeatedly, that Ventura made the trip to New York City to deliver the cards
and see the site. What they failed to mention was that ABC paid for
Ventura's trip. That left some Minnesota reporters, who were not allowed to
accompany Ventura on his tour of the disaster site, questioning whether the
governor was giving special access to a news event to the company that paid fo
r his trip. Ventura and his staff rejected any implication that access to
Ventura was for sale.

"They didn't compensate me. Where do you get that nonsense," Ventura said.

Ventura went on to say that he would no longer grant interviews with the
Minnesota media. Ventura's press secretary, John Wodele, and an official with
Good Morning America, said it was customary that the show pay for a guest's
travel, and Wodele says lawmakers have complained in the past when the
governor charged the state for trips. Wodele says he also worked hard to
give Minnesota reporters and photographers access to the World Trade Center
site, but it was refused by Pataki's office. He said there is no
link between Good Morning America paying for the trip and having exclusive
access.

"For you to take the leap from that to say that I participated -
or the state of Minnesota has participated - in any exclusive arrangement for
access to the governor or to that site is completely wrong. And if you
report that, you are going down the wrong path," Wodele said.

Outside of ABC's studios, Ventura was given a rousing cheer by members of the
local pipefitters union who were standing in line to start work on the
building across the street. One yelled, "Hey, it's the body slammer and he's wearing a NYPD hat." Others walked up to Ventura and shook his hand.

Ventura's television appearance capped a two-day New York visit, which started with a meeting with the state's bond rating agency, followed by the tour of the World Trade center site with officials from the Salvation
Army, members of his staff and New York Gov. George Pataki. Ventura and
his Minnesota contingent hand-delivered nearly 9,000 memorial cards to
relief workers, who were cleaning up part of "ground zero."

"You realize that it is reality now," he said. It's not on a box that you look at on a
screen. It's not a person interviewing someone anymore. It's standing out
there amongst it and you look up and they're gone. They're gone. And I
think the most difficult think is that it's a graveyard and that there's
thousands of bodies in that rubble."

New York Gov. George Pataki said he was happy that Ventura made the trip
to New York City and says the city and state appreciate his goodwill gesture.
He said many of the workers were excited to meet the
celebrity-turned-politician. Pataki added that it also heightened many of
the relief worker's spirits to be given a hand-written card from someone a
half a country away.

"From a compassionate standpoint. From people who have been through
enormous
suffering. To have someone like Jesse Ventura come out and give them a
personally drawn card, pat them on the back and tell them how proud he is of
what they are doing means an enormous amount. And I am just extremely
grateful - and I'm sure millions of New Yorkers are grateful - that even in
these
difficult times the governor made the effort to be here today," Pataki said.

Gov. Ventura shows a newspaper to document a memorial service held at the Capitol in September, during his appearance on Good Morning America. Afterwards, Star Tribune reporter Kevin Diaz questioned Ventura's spokesman John Wodele about why Good Morning America was granted exclusive access to Ventura's visit to the World Trade Center site. Listen to the audio.(MPR Photo/Tom Scheck)

Both Ventura and the division commander of the Minnesota and North Dakota
Chapter of the Salvation Army decided to hand deliver the memorial cards to
Pataki and other New Yorkers.

The Salvation Army's David Grindle says three
people in the Minnesota division are working at the World Trade Center site.
He said the Minnesota and North Dakota chapter will also give $1 million
in total contributions to help with the clean-up.

Grindle says he
hopes the money, effort and personal messages help people get through the
tragedy.
"Is it going to completely change the situation with the firemen who feel so
emotional about this situation or families who lost a loved one? No. But
every bit of encouragement keeps lifting a person up and the people of New
York need to be continually lifted up," Grindle said.

Minnesota reporters had little access to Ventura during the first day of his
visit. After meeting with officials to discuss Minnesota's credit rating,
the governor said it's always important to meet with bonding officials
regardless of the economy.

Ventura answered only one question about the state workers' strike in Minnesota. That comment was in response to critics who questioned making such a trip with most of the state's work force off the job.

"These people here in New York have orphaned children today and I take
offense to anyone who would question why I'm out here. I take great offense
to that. To anyone who would question the fact of why I came out here
representing... I lead the state of Minnesota and I came out here
representing the state of Minnesota. How dare them," Ventura said.

A Ventura spokesman said Ventura's schedule was at the mercy of Gov.
Pataki's office. He said Ventura's staff worked hard to give the local media
greater access, but says their hands were tied.